TNA’s Simple Solution

If you’re a professional wrestling fan, you know that a rising tide lifts all boats. Wrestling’s two apexes (both financially and in the pop culture mindset) came during two periods of competition between top brands; the early 1980’s, when Vince McMahon was trying to destroy the territory system; and the late 1990’s, during the Monday Night Wars.

Currently, there’s only one big dog in the hunt. The WWE is the only game in town for most casual wrestling fans. But their creativity and their brand (and their stock price, though I only one a single share of it) are hurt by the fact that they have no major competition. And while there are national companies who are doing quite well (Ring of Honor) and those that aren’t (Global Force Wrestling), none have the capability of providing much of a challenge to the WWE.

That’s where TNA Wrestling comes into the picture. TNA was, ostensibly, started to be a competitor to the WWE and to fill the void that was left behind after the closing of World Championship Wrestling. Despite periods of brilliance and decent TV ratings, it has failed to do what it set out to do; compete with the WWE. Maybe that ship has sailed and maybe the best the company can hope for is to be a solid #2 company. After all of the missteps, retreads, restarts and regrets, TNA may not have the cache in the minds of wrestling fans to overcome what has come before.

Now that Billy Corgan has taken over the company from Dixie Carter, this is the time to reset. Sure, there are practical ways the Corgan could reset the company; he could start by changing the name, abandoning the six-sided ring, and eliminating the ridiculous rules for the Grand Championship. But even if those are changed, who is actually watching the product?

TNA’s struggles have often come thanks to it’s television distribution situation. The weekly pay-per-view model was never going to be sustainable. Being Spike TV’s second choice after WWE programming left wasn’t great, but it was a known network. Wrestling never fit with Destination America’s ethos, and most people don’t even know what Pop TV is. The latter two networks, of course, most people don’t even know they have on their cable or satellite systems.

The one thing that can save TNA Wrestling; controlling the distribution themselves.

TNA Wrestling should create an arrangement with YouTube to broadcast their weekly wrestling program’s online for free. This gives the company a few advantages that their current situation does not have:

1. More Carriage: Instead of worrying about people trying to find PopTV or any other station that people aren’t aware of, YouTube will allow direct distribution to every house and device in the US with internet access,
2. Time Shifting: The YouTube stream would be archived so that any fan can catch the latest show when it’s convenient for them, and it allows new fans to go back and catch up with recent programming, allowing them to become more invested in the product.
3. No concerns about creative control: The company can run the programs they want to run without having to run afoul of standards and practices.
4. Length does not matter: If the company wants to run a 45-minute show, or an hour show, or a three hour show, it does not matter. They would be unconstrained by networks schedules because the program would start and stop at a time of their choosing.
5. Still Allows for Pay-Per-Views: There’s nothing stopping TNA from continuing to have regularly scheduled pay-per-view events with this model.
6. Ad Revenues are Theirs: Most important of all from a financial standpoint is that TNA would keep 100% of all ad revenues. They could still sell commercial time as any television network would, but instead of losing a huge percentage of that back to the network, it would all belong to the company at rates negotiated directly between the company and the advertisers.

Admittedly, I’m not a fan of TNA. Haven’t watched the product with any regularity in a long time. But as somebody who watches the genre, I know that a successful company makes the entire wrestling ecosystem better, and creates opportunities for more people to have good matches.

The solution to TNA’s biggest problem is simple. Let’s see if they take it.